Reading 'Rubicon' might launch reader on Saylor series

Book review

Published: Sunday, May 02, 1999

WILLIAM KERNSA-J Entertainment Editor

A bit of later research revealed that Steven Saylor's ''Rubicon'' (St. Martin's Press, $23.95) is the seventh in the author's Roma sub Roma series. That fact, had I known it in advance, probably would have inspired me to put down the novel because I, like many, assume that I'm going to be lost if I haven't read a series in chronological order of publication.

In this case, ignorance paid off because ''Rubicon'' is a whale of a read.

The book flap describes Saylor as having a lifelong fascination with ancient Rome, and he boasts an intriguing ability to take real historical events and weave within them a tapestry of murder, mystery and interaction.

It's been a while OK, a long while since my college history courses, but much of the book's embracing story rings true: Caesar crossing the Rubicon and seemingly imminent civil war between Caesar's troops and the Senate and loyal warriors of Pompey who marched south to the foot of Italy, leaving Rome unguarded for the taking.

Make no mistake; ''Rubicon'' is a book of fiction, yet Saylor lures the reader into the story by granting it a feel of historical detective work and subterfuge and (in teasing fashion) making readers assume that a well documented assassination may play a role in the finale.

The twists are as surprising as they are sublime and, at times, simply constructed.

Indeed, the only question I have and this again may reveal my ignorance is whether the profane F word was used in ancient Rome. (It appears in Saylor's novel only once when Clodius' shrine is desecrated.)

Lest you assume that a novel set in ancient Rome might be dry or as thin as scrolls revealing Caesar's military strategies, know that Saylor breathes life into the past by lending it a contemporary flair via empathetic characters. True, the war waged by Caesar and Pompey will prove important, but the character who carries the book is the elderly Gordianus, in whose garden Numerius, one of Pompey's men, is garroted to death.

Pompey wants to know the identity of the murderer. He commands Gordianus to conduct the investigation and, to prod him into following orders, forces his son-in-law into military servitude. Gordianus is caught in the middle of a delicate situation unwilling to refuse Pompey and risk the life of his daughter's husband, and yet also realizing that his son is in the employ (and, it is rumored, also the bed chambers) of Caesar.

The easiest route runs backward, investigating the dead man's past dealings and, in the process, discovering deceit, blackmail and reason enough to cast suspicion on more than one.

The killer's identity will not be revealed until long after bandits attack, arrows fly, trench traps are set and both land and sea battles ensue. And as mentioned before, Saylor's twists can rely more on simple than complicated threads.

''Rubicon,'' while set in ancient days, is a mystery exploring not only motive but also fate's laughing insistence that even the most moral and honest may have their breaking points when all around them is chaos.

Rest assured, this novel stands on its own. Those who finish it, however, might find themselves reaching for Saylor's six previous novels in which Gordianus also is a prominent player.